Swiss AI research is worldclass

Artificial intelligence applications will churn up the economy and significantly increase productivity in countless sectors. Switzerland as a business and research location is rising to the challenge and is well equipped, even in international comparison. We show the sectors in which Swiss AI startups are leaders.

The rapid emergence of generative AI — AI technologies that generate entirely new content, from lines of code to images to human-like speech — has spurred a feeding frenzy among startups and investors alike. 2023 is already a record year for investment in generative AI startups, with equity funding topping $14.1B on a global level.

Alexander Ilic worked with machine learning and algorithms when he co-founded Dacuda (TOP 100 2011-2014). Dacuda developed a computer mouse that could scan text. Generative AI works differently: it creates something new from existing data according to statistical criteria. This process first made headlines in 2019, when the app ‘this person does not exist’ appeared. It created real-looking people who had never existed from the portrait pictures with which it had been trained.

AI research has a long tradition in Switzerland. The Idiap Research Institute in Martigny, which currently employs 160 researchers, has been working on AI applications since 1991, and IDSIA in Lugano for three years longer. The ETH AI Center work closely with EPFL, the Swiss National Supercomputing Centre, the Swiss Data Science Center, and various universities of applied sciences. It’s probably not wrong to describe Switzerland as one of the largest AI hubs in the world says Ilic. Read the full interview with Alexander Ilic in the TOP 100 Swiss Startup Magazin 2023.

                               
 

In an era where innovation reigns supreme, Swiss AI startups have positioned themselves as trailblazers, ushering in a new age of technological advancement. Their influence extends far beyond ChatGPT, reaching into diverse aspects of our daily lives and the global business landscape. Indeed, this is just the beginning of their transformative journey. We dug into the  AI landscape. Below, we unveil six industries where Swiss AI startups are boldly challenging the status quo:

Foodtech
The biggest revolution since the introduction of artificial fertilizers: With AI, agriculture is catching up with the digital world.

Agrinorm
Gamaya
Kitro
QualySense
XFarm Technologies

Fintech
Banks and insurance companies are already highly digitized today. An ideal playing field for AI applications.

Acodis
Apiax
Price Hubble
Squirro
Unique
Yokoy Group

Mobility
More attentive and responsive than any human: The dream of autonomous mobility comes true.

Assaia International
Daedalean
Dotphoton
Embotech
Lattice Flow
Neural Concept
Sevensense Robotics
Verity

Healthcare
Every patient is different. AI algorithms pave the way for more precise diagnoses and personalized therapies.

Akina
InterAx Biotech
Invasight
Nanolive
Navignostics
Resmonics
RetinAI Medical
Scailyte
Sleepiz
Sophia Genetics

Productivity
What is a routine task that can also be done by machines? This question must be rephrased in the AI era.

Archilyse
Capskin
DeepJudge
Embotech
EthonAI
Legartis Technology
Scandit
Tinamu Labs

How Ecorobotix improves agriculture through AI
Computer vision meets agriculture: Vaud agritech company Ecorobotix is working on the crop protection of the future in a field in the municipality of Valeyres-sous-Rances.

Steve Tanner, CTO of Ecorobotix, and his colleague Aurélien Demaurex, CFO, who initially met while working for the environmental organization A Rocha, joined forces to create the Ecorobotix project. Tanner, who grew up in a farming family, proposed the idea of an ecological weed control machine during their environmental missions. Although initially hesitant, Demaurex, who came from a family of machine manufacturers, was eventually convinced by Tanner's vision. In 2014, they founded the company and experimented with mechanical weeding robots but later shifted their focus to targeted herbicide spraying. In 2019, they abandoned the idea of self-propelled robots based on farmer feedback and instead developed a plug-and-play solution called ARA, which can be mounted on any tractor on the market. Read the full story in the magazine.